The changing trends of childhood poisoning at a tertiary children's hospital in South Africa.

Context: Information on childhood poisoning in the developing world, including South Africa, is scarce, despite its contribution to morbidity and mortality.

Objective: We describe the profile of children with exposures and poisonings presenting to Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (RCWMCH) in Cape Town, South Africa, from 2003 to 2008 and compare the trends of causative agents over the past two decades.

Methods: Cases were identified by review of the RCWMCH case records.